All Hail the Institution
About a week and a half ago, I read Birth As An American Rite of Passage. This book is fascinating in its analysis of birth from the perspective of what society ‘gains’ under the current predominant system of birth; namely, that birth as currently practiced by the majority of the culture underlines the idea that the institution is of paramount importance. Nothing - not the family, not the child, not the mother, not the individual - is to trump it.
Then, today, I read this father’s account of visiting a hospital after a planned unassisted birth. The family went in because the mother had not yet birthed the placenta after some hours, and they were concerned. Yet, the hospital - the institution - felt the need to somehow take over with their daughter. It’s a fascinating and deeply troubling story.
This reminded me of something I was considering just a few days ago - that next year, I would have to submit paperwork with regards to homeschooling.
Let me write it another way. I have to fill out a form and send it in to the local school system in order to let my child stay at home with me. I have to get permission, in effect, to not send her to an institution for the majority of her waking hours.
I’m sure I’m reinventing the wheel here, but I think that it’s the lack of reliance on institutions by homebirthers and homeschoolers that is what truly drives the resistance to both practices. Yes, doctors don’t want to lose the money from the births of those women, but when homebirth represents one to two percent of births nationally, is money really enough to explain the hostile, virulent reactions of some medical professionals? More than that, what about the reactions of those who have no monetary investment in the place and method of birth?
Similarly, financial gain is given as a reason that the education bureaucracy fights homeschoolers. Every head is, after all, a source of income for the school system. Again, however, that doesn’t explain the reactions of those who have no monetary investment in the place and method of education.
Psychological studies have shown that same-age peer interaction is not a preferred method of socialization for optimal psychological health. People will generally admit that at least some portion of their school years were hell, due in part or wholy to the efforts of their peers. The same people, however, are insistent that we continue doing things the same way that we ‘always’ have - the institution. Why?
Because to challenge the institution is to challenge most of society’s assumptions. To challenge the institution, whether through place of birth or place of learning, is to challenge some of the dominant values of our culture. It is, in a way, to challenge the very foundation around which our culture is organised. For many people, challenging the dominant culture and dominant values in such a blatant way is not tolerable. Psychologically, they cannot understand it, and do not want to deal with it. That psychological reaction to the challenge is the source, I believe, of the negative and extreme reactions to homebirthing and homeschooling.
